


Inseparable

by Felki



Category: Dororo (Anime 2019)
Genre: Family Fluff, Fluff, Maybe - Freeform, Piggyback Rides, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Spoilers, and then it just ignores canon, or the one where they find Dororos dads money, this episode happens right after episode 17
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felki/pseuds/Felki
Summary: After Hyakkimaru came for him after the treasure fiasco, Dororo and his brother are once again on the move - this time, they find themselves in a village facing a demon known as "jubokko."What is the jubokko? Dororo has no doubt that his brother will be able to defeat it, of course - but what's it's history?----------------------Alternatively:Hyakkimaru and Dororo deserve more bonding time. Also, the piggy-back ride never actually occurred in the anime despite being present in the first OP, so I made it happen.
Relationships: Dororo & Hyakkimaru (Dororo)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36





	Inseparable

‘ _ Aniki _ .” Dororo called to his older brother, clutching Hyakkimru’s ripped kimono in his right fist. Hyakkimaru stopped walking, turning around somewhat so that he could look down at Dororo. 

“Hm?” the older boy made a noise of acknowledgement, letting Dororo know that he had heard the younger boy’s call. 

“I…” Dororo gulped.

If Hyakkimaru had had his vision, he would’ve been able to see the dirt on Dororo’s knees, as well as the small scrapes and the purple bruises that were forming. Dororo’s calves didn’t seem to be hurt in anyway, but the scrape marks prominent on his knees also made an appearance on the boy’s shins - not enough to truly be bleeding, but enough to be painful. Another thing Hyakkimaru couldn’t see was the state of Dororo’s hands; they shared the same scrapes that could be found on his knees. 

It wasn’t as if Dororo hadn’t experienced worse - he was a great thief, after all, and there had been multiple occasions where his victims had enacted their revenge when they caught him - the first time he met Hyakkimaru was a prime example - but it wasn’t only scrapes and bruises that the boy was dealing with. 

Minutes before, Dororo had clumsily tripped over a root in the middle of the path (that Hyakkimaru, despite being blind, had managed to avoid), causing him to fall forward and scrape his hands and knees on the dirt ground, As he was falling, his foot hit a rather sharp part of the root, opening a gash in the bottom of his right foot. The gash was on the arch of his foot, so he luckily wasn’t walking on it as he followed his older brother. But it hurt at all the same. And while he wasn’t exactly leaving a blood trail behind him, Dororo could still feel the sticky blood on his skin - to the point where he was actually somewhat concerned of infection. 

Dororo, used to living on his own, felt as if he needed to suck it up like the great thief he was. Despite the fact that he had grown to trust Hyakkimaru, and cared for him more than he had ever cared for any other person, his own pride hadn’t allowed him to tell Hyakkimaru of his problem. Hyakkimaru, as was custom, hadn’t even noticed that Dororo had tripped. (Or at least, that was what Dororo believed. In reality, Hyakkimaru had noticed the small boy tripping, and had slowed his walking speed so Dororo would be able to catch up with ease.) 

Dororo’s plan had been to wait until they reached the next town - which, according to the traveller they had come across a few hours before, wasn’t too far now. But he was starting to have doubts, unsure if he wanted to silently bear the pain any longer. He felt like a child, asking his brother for help like this despite knowing that they had both had worse, but the risk of an infection was real - and both Dororo and Hyakkimaru knew that leaving a blood trail was generally never a good thing, as it could attract _kishin_ (demons) and _ayakashi_ (dead spirits/yokai, essentially). . 

So, swallowing his pride, Dororo tugged on the worn clothing of his brother, calling “ _ Aniki _ .” 

And when Hyakkimaru stopped, turning to look at him, Dororo glanced down at his feet, mumbling, “I tripped over a tree root a while back, so now my foot’s bleeding. It hurts.” 

Hyakkimaru didn’t say anything for a few moments - and Dororo worried that his message hadn’t gotten across. Just as he opened his mouth to repeat his words, though, his elder brother crouched down so that their faces were level with each other. 

“Your foot?” Hyakkimaru questioned, glancing down at said limb before raising his gaze back to Dororo’s face. Dororo nodded, hoping that his brother could see his action - he didn’t really know how his brother’s ‘soul color vision’ worked, after all. 

But it seemed as if the message had gotten across, as Hyakkimaru lifted the boy by the armpits, before placing him onto a small patch of grass on the side of the path. Dororo surprisingly didn’t fight back against his brother’s grip, curious as to what the older boy would do. 

“Where?” Hyakkimaru asked, and Dororo raised his right foot in response. Hyakkimaru (probably) couldn’t actually see the blood, but he still frowned at the sight. He lifted one of his prosthetic arms forward, pointing to the bag that Dororo always kept on his hip. “Bandages?” Hyakkimaru questioned - and Dororo wondered where his brother had learned that word.

Dororo shook his head. “No, I don’t have any,” he said, shaking his pouch slightly so that his brother could hear the jingling of coins. All Dororo had were the coins that he had grabbed from his father’s treasure - so that the two of them would be able to feed themselves in the next town, if free food wasn’t provided. (Which actually a shockingly small number of towns - the moment villagers heard of how the two of them, especially Hyakkimaru, could service them, they generally bent head over heels in order to provide them with anything they might require, such as food and shelter.) 

“Hmmm…” Hyakkimaru let out a small noise of contemplation, before reaching down to his own right ankle and unwinding the bandage he had had twisted around. Dororo looked down at his own ankles, realizing that yes, he did have bandages on his person already - he had just completely forgotten about them. Oh, well, it wasn’t like he could change the past. 

“Here?” Hyakkimaru asked as he started to wrap the bandage around Dororo’s bleeding foot. Dororo murmured a small  _ yeah _ as an affirmative. 

When Hyakkimaru had finished, he didn’t immediately stand up, surprising Dororo slightly. “Walk?” the older boy asked. “Can… you walk?” 

It took Dororo a moment to respond, unused to this new caring nature that his older brother was expressing. “I can walk,” he said, “but it hurts.” 

Hyakkimaru nodded, accepting Dororo’s statement, before turning around in his crouch and making his back available to the smaller boy. “Go on,” he said, his tone of voice making it seem more like he was asking a question rather than telling Dororo what to do. 

Dororo, grateful, sniffed a little as he climbed onto his brother’s back, letting Hyakkimaru grab his legs so that he would be able to hold the smaller boy up. 

“Okay?” Hyakkimaru asked, his voice soft. 

“Okay,” Dororo repeated. 

They travelled like this the rest of the way, with Dororo’s arms wrapped around his brother’s neck as Hyakkimaru continued to walk bare-footed. Considering the extra money that he had gotten from his father’s treasure trove, Dororo was seriously starting to consider investing in a pair of shoes for each of them - they certainly had the money for it. 

  
  


When they finally reached the town, it was evening - which was only a little later than Dororo had expected. They received a warm welcome from the townspeople working in the rice fields, who were more than happy to point them in the direction of the one inn. Following their directions, Dororo told Hyakkimaru which way to go, until they found themselves in front of a building that looked rather small to be hosting more than a few people. . 

The lady sitting on the bench in front of the inn gave them a warm welcome as well - charging them a relatively cheap price for a room to sleep in, telling them that she would even feed them a bowl of rice each. 

“I like catering to travellers.” the lady told them as she let them into her home, and towards the room she would be lending them. “My late husband and I met as he was on a journey - and joining him was one of the greatest choices I ever made. We never would’ve made it without the kind people of the villages we passed lending us space in their homes. My husband is gone now, but catering to people like this reminds me of the kindness that we received.” 

Hyakkimaru hummed a small noise of confirmation, though Dororo wasn’t sure how much of that his brother had actually comprehended. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your husband?” Dororo asked. He knew that questions like this could be considered insensitive, but Dororo had never really been taught to hold back such questions - he had gotten scolded by random villagers on occasion for referring to people of importance with words such as “old dude” or “some lady.” 

The lady frowned as she opened the sliding door to the room she was letting them stay in. “The Jubokko got him,” she said sadly. “I’ll bring you two your bowls of rice now,” she said, leaving them to get situated before Dororo could ask any more questions. 

“Jubokko?” Dororo questioned as Hyakkimaru crouched down so that he could climb off. In the corner of the room, two large futon were folded and stacked on one another, so Dororo hopped his way over to it before collapsing onto it, as if it were a giant pillow. 

‘ “Have you ever heard of a Jubokko, _aniki_?” Dororo asked his brother, who only shook his head before sitting down on the tatami floor next to him. “Do you think it’s a _kishin_?” 

Hyakkimaru didn’t respond for a moment. “I don’t know. Haven’t seen it yet.” 

“That’s true,” Dororo agreed. “We can investigate more tomorrow!!” he decided. “If we ask the inn lady, and the townspeople about it, we’ll be sure to find out!! And if it really is a  _ kishin _ , then we can offer to defeat it for them!! For a price, of course,” Dororo let a grin light his face as the prospect of money. 

“Of course,” Hyakkimaru repeated, causing Dororo to wonder if his brother had truly understood what he was saying. 

There was a knock on the paper door, and it slid open, revealing the inn lady with two bowls of rice and two pairs of chopsticks in her hands. “If you need a second serving, I’ll be in the room two doors to the left, alright?” 

“Sounds good!!” Dororo agreed as Hyakkimaru walked over to take the items from her hands. “Thank you!!” 

The lady gave the both of them a kind smile. “It’s no problem, sweet hearts. You two seem young, so make sure to get enough sleep, alright?”

Hyakkimaru nodded in agreement, and the lady let out a soft chuckle as she slid the door closed, her footsteps echoing somewhat behind her as she left for the room two doors to the right. 

When Hyakkimaru brought the rice over, Dororo immediately started wolfing down his own bowl, hungry after a long day of walking. They had stopped earlier in the day for lunch that had been comprised of berries they had found on a nearby bush, but it hadn’t been enough to fill them up completely, so Dororo was grateful for the rice provided. 

Dororo glanced at his brother, who was also eating from his own bowl of rice - though at a much slower pace. As smart and adaptive Hyakkimaru seemed to be, it was obvious that he was still having a hard time perfecting the art of chopsticks. Dororo had seen him use them back when they were at Sabame’s village, but he guessed that it was still a struggle for the boy with prosthetic arms. 

Dororo quickly finished his rice. Barely chewing before he swallowed, placing his bowl on the floor next to the futon before turning to his brother. Due to his elevated position, Dororo and Hyakkimaru’s heads were level. 

“ _ Aniki, _ ” Dororo called to his brother, who paused and turned towards him. “If it would be easier, I can feed the rice to you. Or if you want, I could teach you how to actually use the chopsticks.” 

Hyakkimaru extended his right hand forward. (The hand holding the chopsticks.) “Teach… me?” he asked.

Dororo grinned. “Of course,  _ aniki _ !!” 

**Author's Note:**

> It's been less than a week since I started watching Dororo, but I've already finished the anime, made lots of fanart, written fanfiction, and decided that it's my new favorite anime. 
> 
> :D
> 
> (If you read my BNHA works, I promise I'll get back to updating those as soon as possible!!)


End file.
